Too Little Too Late
by actionman81
Summary: How will Rita deal with Chris's first infidelity since their marriage?


"Hi Frannie," said Rita, answering her cell phone as she drove along the darkened streets of Palm Beach in her black Jeep Cherokee. It was a wet day and the forecaster had said that it would be raining intermittently throughout the night, "Yeah, I just dropped James off at his friend's house. He's going to spend the night there," James was her and Chris's ten-year-old son, who was on Spring Break for that week. "Oh, you know, they're going to do 'guy stuff'- watch action movies, eat junk food, play video games," she laughed, remembering her childhood. Though she didn't have the easiest life, she always managed to see the good that it had to offer. She talked for a few more minutes before turning the car into the driveway of their house. "Bye Frannie," she said, turning off her cell phone. She exited the car, locking it and walked quickly the few meters to the front door to avoid the light drizzle. She fished through her purse for her keys, she noticed that the front door was ajar. Drawing her pistol, she walked slowly through the house. Finding everything intact, she moved towards the bedroom. Chris was there, sitting up in bed, his legs under the covers. She noticed that his pants and underwear lay in a pile on the floor, "Hi Sam," she said, putting the gun in the nightstand drawer, "I see you're getting ready for bed early tonight," she grinned saucily, "don't go away, I'll join you in a minute,"

"Um… yeah," he said, looking a bit preoccupied

"What's wrong Sam?" she asked

"Err… Sam…I…" but before he could reply, a tall, leggy blonde emerged from the bathroom, barely wearing Rita's robe. Rita's green eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Her brows furrowed and her eyes narrowed. Cocking her head to one side, she asked curtly "who are you?" removing her gun from the drawer and aiming it at the woman

"I should ask you the same thing," said the woman plainly, "Chris never said he was married," Outside, the rain started coming down harder, as a flash of lightning filled the room with an intense light. "What?" Rita couldn't believe her ears, "Get out! Get out of my house. Now!" she yelled, practically throwing the woman out of the door, and locking it behind her. Moments later, she came back in the bedroom, "Sam, how could you?" she asked him, impatiently waiting for a response. Chris remained silent. Rita placed the gun on the nightstand and turned to him again; "You're my best friend Sam, and my husband. We had a bond, something that couldn't be broken. I thought we were soul mates… how could you do this? Why?" Chris still continued to say nothing. Rita went on, "What? Was I getting too old for you, huh? I thought you were different Chris. I really thought you were different," In her mind, Rita heard things that different people had told her about love, throughout the years. She heard Michael Price's voice, "Best friends make the best lovers," But then she heard Eric Russell's voice, "You know Rita, it's a good thing you and Chris haven't crossed the line. He's a womanizer, and that'll never change… ever. By being with him, you'd only be setting yourself up for a fall,"

Rita was already having trouble thinking straight. There were just too many emotions running through her mind. Chris just sat there silently. That was just too much for her, "Say something!" she finally yelled at him

"I…I'm sorry Sam," he said haltingly.

"You're sorry? Sorry doesn't even begin to describe this. You know… I'd have expected something like this from Eric, but you Chris? From the moment I realized our destiny, I never wanted to believe that you could ever be like this…" she pushed a stray lock of hair out of her face, "Just leave," she said after a short pause, "please... just leave me now and get it over with,"

"But I…" he started to say

"Leave!" she yelled, "Damn it! Just get out of here! You've done enough damage for one lifetime!"

"Fine," he muttered, pulling on a pair of blue track pants and a gray Champion T-shirt. Chris picked up his Nike running shoes and left the room. Five minutes later, Rita heard his battered Charger pull out of the garage and head out into the rainy night. Rita sat on the bed, their bed, "I've got to stop thinking about this… but how can I? Why does everyone I love have to hurt me so? Daddy killed himself; Eric took drugs and was killed… and now this," Then, just as sudden, another thought hit her, "What will I tell James?"

Harry Lipschitz, Captain of the Palm Beach Police, drove through the wet, darkened streets. As his car neared Society, the local cop bar, he noticed a familiar vehicle. He quickly turned into the bar's parking lot. Sure enough, there was Chris's Charger. Harry went in and found Chris sitting at the bar, hunched over. He went over and sat on the stool next to Chris. "Lorenzo," he said. Chris turned towards his Captain and friend, "hey Cap." he replied

"Lorenzo, why aren't you at home with your wife and son?" inquired Harry

Chris sighed, "Rita wants nothing to do with me and after tonight, I doubt James will either… after she tells him her side of it,"

Cap lowered his voice and asked, "Are you two fighting?"

"Something like that… you wouldn't believe me if I told you,"

"Try me," replied the elder man. Harry knew that Chris had once had a reputation for being a Don Juan, but those that days were long gone once he and Rita had fallen hopelessly in love. "Go ahead," he urged Chris.

"Well, I was driving home from a light case load," Since their marriage, Rita had moved from Homicide to teaching cadets at the Palm Beach Police Academy, while Chris, seeing as how Homicide was potentially dangerous, had moved to a desk job. It wasn't so exciting, but at least he didn't have to worry about being shot. "Rita was still finishing up her class and said she'd drop off James at his friend's house. He was going to sleep over there for the night. Anyway, I was driving home and not far from the PBPD I came near this car with the hood up. I slowed down to see what's the problem. There's this blonde woman having car trouble. I stopped behind her car and ask what can I do… she closed the hood of her car and whips out a revolver, telling me that if I radio anyone or try to reach for my gun, she'd blow my head off. She gets in and orders me to drive her home, to my house. What else can I do?" Harry nodded his head silently. Chris went on, "When we got there, she asked me where Rita was. I said that she wasn't home yet. She said that that was good… and then…" he paused, unable to continue. Harry leaned close to him, "Yeah… what happened?"

"You've heard of women getting raped at gunpoint?"

"Uh-huh," replied Harry, wondering what could have happened

"Well, I think I'm the first man to get raped at gunpoint," he said quietly. Harry sat back and stared at the younger man, narrowing his eyes, "What are you trying to pull over me, Lorenzo?"

"Nothing Cap," said Chris, holding his hands up in defense, "She said that if I didn't have sex with her, she'd kill me." Harry didn't believe it, "Sorry Chris," he shook his head, "I've heard a lot of crap, but nothing like this," he said as he got up and headed for the door. Chris sat alone at the bar until the bartender asked him to leave, as Society was closing for the night.

Rita lay in bed, tossing from left to right and back again. Her head was spinning with thoughts and memories. She couldn't understand how something like this could have happened. On the nightstand was a picture of Chris, James and her. It had been taken a year ago, at the PBPD. James had kept inquiring about what his parents did, so that day, she and Chris had brought him to work with them. James had soon become bored, so while Rita was handling teaching assignments and Chris had his desk duty, James had been under the watchful eye of Frannie, Harry's wife. Rita took the framed photo and placed it face down on the nightstand…she couldn't bear to look at it. She turned over and stared at the ceiling. Even then, something in her screamed out that Chris was innocent, but her analytical mind knew that she had seen what she had seen, and that the evidence pointed to his guilt.

The next morning, Rita picked up James from his friend's house. She said nothing to him about the previous night's happenings as they drove back to their house. Rita turned the scenario over and over in her head all that morning. Later in the day, as Rita lectured to her class, she couldn't help but feel betrayed and alone, "Remember," she told her cadets, "When you've captured a fugitive, keep your gun on him or her at all times. Never let up. Not for a second," the words ran too true for her. She would never be able to trust Chris again… what would become of them? She didn't have time to answer herself. Just then, someone came into the class; it was a youthful dark-haired uniformed Sergeant. "Uh… sorry to interrupt Lieutenant, but there's someone who wants to speak to you outside," he said

"Well, who is it," I'm in the middle of an important lesson,"

The Sergeant looked outside the door momentarily, "Lieutenant, he seems very worried,"

"He?" Rita said her thought aloud, " Sergeant, take over for me for a few minutes,"

"Sure thing Lieutenant," he said, moving in front of the table and facing the cadets. Rita left the room, closing the door behind her

Rita stepped outside the door and closed it behind her. There was Chris, looking haggard, unshaved, and dressed in a rumpled pink dress shirt and a faded pair of jeans, "Rita," he said, "let me explain, please,"

"No," she said harshly, "I know damn well what happened. You let yourself slide back to being a real swinger and I just happened to be last year's model," her eyes blazed angrily

"No," he sighed, "It's nothing like that,"

"Let me guess, you got seduced, right?" she said sarcastically, "I don't have time for this Christopher," she turned her back to him and reached for the door. Chris turned and slowly walked away. He heard her enter the room and close the door behind her. "It's over," he thought, "She never called me that before, 'Christopher'… ouch," he winced at the thought of how she had said it, her words had felt colder than ice. Moments later, he heard footsteps following him. He turned, expectantly hoping that it was Rita, but no, it was the Sergeant. The detective walked up to Chris, "It didn't go well?" he asked, seeing the look on Chris's face

"Not at all," said Chris

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said, as the two of them walked to the elevator. The Sergeant asked Chris, "What happened to you, you look horrible,"

"Well, I hung around Society for most of the night. It was raining when I finally left at closing time… I drove around and found a cheap motel and stayed there for the night. In the morning I came over here and was lucky that I had some clothes in my locker,"

"Uh-huh," replied the Sergeant

When they reached the elevator, Chris noticed the Sergeant's hand; he wore a Claddagh ring on his right ring finger with the heart was pointing towards his fingers. "Hey," Chris said, "If you ever find that special woman who makes your life perfect, don't do something stupid and lose her, even if it means getting killed,"

"Uh… right," said the younger man, not fully understanding the meaning behind Chris's advice. The elevator opened and he got on. Chris was left alone in the hallway. He sighed and walked down the corridor and took the stairs down to a lower level of the building.

That evening, as the day's classes had finished, Rita packed up her briefcase and took the elevator down to the ground floor of the building. As she walked towards her car, she noticed an uniformed female officer standing next to it. She tapped the woman on her shoulder. When the officer turned around, Rita's eyes widened. It was the blonde woman from that previous night. "Don't say a word," the woman said in a cold, calculating voice, "Just get in that car and start driving," Rita buckled her seat belt and did as the woman told her. As they pulled out of the lot, the woman continued, "Keep driving, don't touch your gun or your radio. If you want to live, you'll listen to me," Her gun was trained on Rita's head

"What do you want from me?" Rita asked the woman

"Something more than what I got from your husband," the woman said, laughing. Rita kept silent. The woman went on, "Some man you have. Just to save your precious little feelings, he did whatever I said,"

"What are you talking about?" asked Rita, her eyes not leaving the road

"I was really looking forward to seeing you. It's been so long and we still had a score to settle, but you weren't there. So I figured I could have some fun with your hubby. Do you know how easily I could have wasted your dear Chris, but I saw how much he wanted to live for you,"

"What does that have to do with anything,"

"Your sap of a husband seemed to think that if he died, you'd be lost somehow… so he complied to my wishes… and oh what wishes they were!" Rita had heard enough. Not batting an eye, she quickly swerved the car, so that it ran off the road and through the guardrail, running onto the beach. The impact of the car's tires hitting the soft sand coupled with the fact that she was not wearing her seat belt, threw the woman forward in the car's cab, her head smashing into the windshield. Rita pulled the woman's gun from her hand and checked to see her vital signs. She was still alive. Anger seethed up in Rita, as she couldn't think of why this woman might do such things, and if her accusations were even true. Rita grabbed the woman by her uniform blouse, "Who are you?" she yelled at the dazed woman

"What, you don't see the resemblance?" Rita didn't understand what she was saying, "Look closer," she implored. Rita stared hard, and then the realization hit her like an anvil. She gasped, but still kept a firm grip on the woman's uniform blouse

"Yes," the woman said, "I'm Kathy Gable, Tori's mother," Tori was one of the runaway girls who had been killed by some sick guy years ago. He had lured the girls to him, raped them, and then dumped their bodies in trash dumpsters. It had been a horrific case. The woman continued, "She died… DIED because you did NOTHING!" with that, she pushed Rita away. Rita fell back, unready for the blow and hit her head on the driver's side window of the Cherokee. She saw her gun was lying on the seat next to her. In one quick motion, she picked it and fired two shots at Kathy, the bullets embedding themselves in her shoulder. The force of the shots threw Kathy against the passenger side door, from where she slumped towards the floorboard. Seeing her assailant incapacitated, Rita quickly radioed for help. Within minutes, two squad cars arrived on the scene. Two uniformed officers got out of one and Harry and Chris got out of the other. Rita heard Harry talking to the two officers, telling them that Kathy was someone that wanted to get even with Rita for not "helping" her enough. Chris walked up to Rita as Kathy was handcuffed and pushed into one of the squad cars. He tried to touch Rita's shoulder in hopes that she'd allow him to. She turned away, still resenting what he had done. Her back facing him, she heard his voice, "Sam, that night… it was empty… it meant nothing to me…."  
"Oh, like your countless girlfriends. I guess they didn't matter either," referring to his romanticized womanizer qualities.

"Sam, those women dumped me. Annie left me to go modeling in Italy; Rikki … well she really left me to go on stripping and even if we had stayed together, you know I couldn't have handled it, and Jillian left me to go work in Boston. If she had stayed back here… I… I don't know…" his voice trailed off. Rita raised an eyebrow as she responded, "So you're saying that you were committed to these women?"

"I was… and I'm committed to you, now and forever. You never left me for more money, a better job… or something or someone more exciting. I thank you for that… and I want you to know that I'd never leave you either…"

"And you just got forced into that sexual escapade?" Rita said, sarcastically. Chris lowered his head, "Yes… please believe me," he said, sounding like a confessor in front of a priest. Rita sighed, "I guess I have to," she replied slowly, remembering Kathy's full confession as she had a gun trained on Rita's head, "but how can I ever trust you again… how can I forgive you,"

"It's easy…" Chris started, and then realizing the deepness of her words, stopped. "Yeah… I can see how that would be hard… Please Rita, I can't bear to be apart from you,"

"I know," she said, turning and facing him. She fought the urge to run to his arms. She couldn't let herself do it, not now, after all this.

Harry had finished instructing the officers on their duties and walked up to the couple as the other squad car drove off with Kathy handcuffed inside. He had heard the last bits of their conversation. Rita didn't see him walk up behind Chris, she continued talking to her husband, "How would you feel if I had had sex with some guy, even got forced into it, and then said that it had meant nothing?"

"I… I'd still wonder why you went through with it…" Chris replied softly, fully understanding the severity of his actions. Hawk placed a hand on Chris's shoulder, "It may not be my place to say this, but I think you guys could use some counseling,"

A week later

Chris and Rita walked into the marriage counselor's office. Together, they went to the receptionist's desk and signed in. They then sat down and waited. A few minutes later, they heard a male voice, "Mr. and Mrs. Lorenzo,"

"That's us," answered Chris, they got up.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Bhonsle," said the man. Rita noticed his nametag, which was clipped to his shirt, 'Dr. Om Bhonsle'. The doctor was roughly a little taller than five feet in height, and was of medium complexion. His thick black hair was cut moderately short and combed to the right side of his head. He looked out from behind a pair of black horn-rimmed glasses with deep brown eyes. Rita couldn't help but notice his clothes; he was dressed in blue stonewashed jeans, a pair of scuffed sneakers, a bright cobalt blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up thrice, and a brightly colored tie. "Will you both please come in and sit down," he said, motioning them to come into his office. He closed the door behind them. They sat down in the chairs in front of his desk, "Mr. and Mrs. Lorenzo," he began, "May I call you Chris and Rita?" They both nodded, "First of all," the Dr. continued, "I want you to know that everything that is said here is confidential. I won't talk about this outside the office and I'll have to ask you not to," he said, handing them each a sheet of paper, "it's just a form that says that you will keep whatever has been said here confidential." Chris and Rita signed the papers and handed them back to the doctor. He went on, standing to put the papers in a filing cabinet and turned his head to continue speaking to them. "I will see you separately for half an hour each and will alternate you with each visit. If Chris is seen first on week number one, then Rita will be seen first on week number two, and so on. Please, when you're not in session with me, I'd like you to remember the good aspects of your relationship and please do so if and when things get tough at home,"

A month later

"Today I'd like for you both to come in and sit down," he said. Chris and Rita sat down in the chairs in front of his desk. Dr. Bhonsle began, "From talking to you for the past four sessions, I think you two have a fairly better shot at a lifelong marriage than most." Chris and Rita were shocked, they had thought that their marriage might come apart at the seams after what had happened that fateful night. Dr. Bhonsle went on, "I mean, you two were roughly in your thirties when you got married. Besides that, you had spent about fifteen years in the dating world before you got married, which includes about four years in undergraduate college. On the basis of that, I think a lot of the… excuse me, 'womanizing' and 'sleeping around' would have been out of your systems, or pretty close to it by that point. Chris, you spoke earlier of your wanting to 'put on the brakes' of being somewhat of a Casanova, when you were in your relationship with Jillian Dupree, am I correct?" Chris nodded. The doctor went on, "You were both established in your careers, and maintained an independent life so you had time to 'find yourselves', and well, Rita," he motioned to her, "You said you and your husband were best friends before marrying." He continued, "You knew each other's histories, habits, values, beliefs, and goals for each other's lives. You had a strong friendship and respect as well as trust for each other. That's a lot more than other couples have when they get married. You know, statistics show that the younger a couple are when they get married, the more likely it is that they'll end up cheating on each other or getting divorced."

"What do you mean by all this Dr.?" asked Rita,

"What I mean is that other than this one infidelity, your marital record is spotless. Both of you have strived for several years to make this work, and so far it has, thanks to your determination and that fact that your marriage started with much more than some marriages end with. That infidelity was not only involuntary, but is still only a very small part of your life together. Granted, I can see how it may still be hard to have trust in one another," he paused a moment, giving the pair time to think about what he was saying, "But also, you have to remember that you've come this far. Do you really want to end this, your life together?" He waited for a minute, hoping that they would answer. Rita thought back to how Chris had been there for her all those times when she needed him. She could imagine the look on Kathy's face as she held a gun to Chris's temple and how, yes, how lost she herself would have felt had he been ripped away from her, he was her best friend. Slowly, Rita said, "No… I don't," she looked over to her husband. Chris knew what he had done was unforgivable, but he also knew that he couldn't imagine one hour without her in his life. He needed her more than ever. "I don't either," he replied

"I'm glad to hear that," said Dr. Bhonsle, standing up. He looked at his wristwatch, "I'm sorry Chris and Rita, but we're out of time today," he looked at the open notebook, which lay, on his desk. "Would you like to set up a follow-up appointment in… say, a month,"

"Yes," said Chris, looking over to his wife, she nodded in agreement.

The pair walked down the hallway to the elevator. After pressing the elevator's call button, Chris turned to his best friend and wife, "So, do you think we're gong to be alright?" She took his hand in hers, "I think if we work at this, we're not going to drift very far apart," she replied. With that, they walked into the elevator, as the doors closed behind them


End file.
